Atomic Zombie Smasher

This post is from the now defunct website “A GameDev Plays…”, copied here for posterity

Is it a strategy game, or tower defense or orbital shooter? I’m not
sure, but I do know that Atomic Zombie
Smasher is a fun little
game, that despite crossing multiple genres still manages to be simple
to play, but hard to master.

Alert! There is a zombie outbreak in Nuevos Aires, as defense commander
your task is to rescue civilians. Send your evacuation helicopter into
infested city blocks and bring as many people as possible to safety.
Various mercenary organisations may be available to help. Atomic Zombie
Smasher is played in a top-down aerial square view of a few city blocks.
Zombies are little pink squares and spawn at the edge of the map. Not
many zombies spawn, but they head straight towards yellow civilians
squares, and if they touch then the civilian becomes a zombie too. If
there is a cluster of civilians then a fast cascade of zombification can
result and rapidly turn the tide of the mission. The civilians are slow
and generally just mill around, except for running towards helicopters
and away from nearby zombies.

The actions normally available to the player are the initial positioning
of the helicopter landing location and mercenary units. These
mercenaries include the standards such as infantry, snipers and
barricades, to the less common like bait lures and orbital strikes.
During the mission, the player can reposition certain items while some
others can be activated. For instance, bait can be placed to attract
zombies and then that position can be targeted for an artillery strike.
The game is quick and simple. Each missions only lasts a minute or two.

Using small squares to represent people works quite well with the
scoring system, as the player soon starts making life and death as to
saving certain groups at the expense of others. Maybe an artillery
strike into that group of civilians about to be caught by zombies will
allow another group to get away? Using an aerial view and little squares
makes such choices seem less gruesome.

Each missions represents an attempt to save a particular part of the
city; chosen by the player from a map showing the current zombie
outbreaks. Rescuing civilians and controlling regions adds to the
player’s score, while lost civilians and unresolved infestations add to
the zombies’ score. These scores are shown on the victory track. As they
progress various events may occur, like bigger zombies or unlocking
orbital strikes.

This is where the strategy in the game comes in. Various regions have
different levels of infections (corresponding to their difficulty). The
player needs to chose where to try next - bigger rewards versus greater
risks. There are also research options available to upgrade units. Plus
each unit has a level associated with it. The more action it sees in a
mission, the more experience gained, and at certain thresholds more
upgrades are available.

](/assets/agdp/azs/victory_full.png)

This game is definitely repayable and has many progression options to
try out. In addition to the upgrades, the maps are randomly generated.
As are which mercenaries are available in each mission. Usually only
half the units can be taken at a time, and the player does not chose
which ones! Each mercenary unit has a different level of usefulness,
trying to work out a plan when your preferred mercenaries are not
available can be a challenge. There never seems to be quite enough of
what you need, although it seems to balance well in the end. So far all
my games have been close.

When starting a new game there are many options available such as being
able to choose which mercenaries are available, or having more zombies.
Although, it does not seem possible to make the game significantly
easier. Selecting all “easy” options just jumps the player straight into
mid-game difficulty missions from the start.

There is also a story in the game. Although it is told in short little
comic-book vignettes. Unlocked out of order after successful missions, I
have yet to see the whole thing (as their are gaps in my copy for
as-yet-unseen vignettes). Although it does appear to be a humorous and
diverting little addition to the game.

It is hard to think of anything negative about this game. Perhaps it
makes the zombie apocalypse to much fun? It is a well designed, simple,
yet very challenging game which has great replayability. The surf music
is good, the brightly coloured graphics are visually appealing. It is a
great game well worth a try.

Atomic Zombie Smasher is available at the
Steam store on PC, Mac and
Linux for US$9.99. It has been bundled many times.